Indiegogo vs Kickstarter: You Make the Call

Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. This practice gives people the opportunity to raise money for creative projects. By submitting an online donation, contributors are not allowed to become investors or shareholders, rather the project creators retain all control over products and services.

By the end of 2013, a cumulative $1.17 billion dollars had been raised using crowdfunding, and is projected to reach $4.35 billion by the end of 2015.

Indiegogo and Kickstarter are two of the most popular crowdfunding websites.

KICKSTARTER VS. INDIEGOGO

Indiegogo and Kickstarter are both successful funding platforms. When using either, the user posts a project, sets a financial goal, creates a timeframe to reach that goal, and the community pledges money to support the project. While very similar, both Indiegogo and Kickstarter have their own strengths.

In comparison, Indiegogo is more relaxed in terms of its project categories. Indiegogo will accept anything from trip fundraising to personal wishes.

Monetary Policy: Another difference between these two crowdfunding sites is their monetary policy.

Kickstarter enacts an “all-or-nothing” policy, meaning if a project does not reach its financial goal, the project doesn’t get any of the money pledged. Therefore, when using Kickstarter, it is important to set the goal at the bare minimum to increase your likelihood of reaching it. Kickstarter also charges a 5% fee if the project is successful.

In comparison, if a project does not reach its financial goal on Indiegogo, the user can still keep the money raised. In addition, Indiegogo only charges a 4% fee if the project reaches its goal. However, if the goal is not reached, Indiegogo will charge 9% of the funds raised.

Stats: Overall, Kickstarter attracts more traffic, accumulates more pledges, and has more dollars pledged than Indiegogo. When looking at success rates,

Kickstarter projects achieve success 43.4% of the time;

Indiegogo projects achieve success 9.8% of the time. But keep in mind even failed projects on Indiegogo get to keep the money raised.

The average crowdfunding campaign is $5,000 on Kickstarter and $3,700 on Indiegogo. The average visits per month on Kickstarter are 23 million and 13.4 on Indiegogo.

Website Design: Indiegogo seems easier to use but with a slightly more cluttered format. Indiegogo also links to Facebook and Twitter easily. Kickstarter has a simpler look, and has more options regarding individual formatting.

Ryan Belmore, owner of What’s Up Newport spoke with Suzanne McDonald about his career path, what his company might look for in recent graduates, and what aspiring new media practitioners should focus on.

Who is Ryan Belmore and What’s Up Newp?

What’s Up Newp is a hyper-local company focused on supporting and spreading the word about local businesses, restaurants, and entertainment in Newport, Rhode Island.

“I always say that with hyper-local social media, it’s not enough to play. I want to be the voice of the community,”said Belmore, the owner of the one-man company.

Belmore majored in fire-science in college, “which is the furthest thing from what I’m doing now with my life that you could possibly do,” he laughed. He then worked in administration management for the New England Patriots for eight years. After which, he did social media work for nonprofit organizations until he bought What’s Up Newp in 2014. He now runs the website, social media and radio show on his own with some help from freelancers.

What should communications & marketing students focus on?

According to Belmore, the most important things for students to learn include:

Strong writing skills

Work ethic

Creativity

Communication skills

Understanding your audience

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Basic coding skills

Social platform analytics

Website analytics

Business management – sales, accounting, selling advertising

He said that a lot of the drive to succeed has to come from within the student, rather than being something that could be taught. Belmore said that when you own a company, “you know everything relies on you. Success and failure, it runs directly through you. […] You know to be successful, you have to push it.”

What new media does What’s Up Newp rely on?

What’s Up Newp has a website run on WordPress, as well as a radio show on every weekday. As for social media, followers can get updates on local news on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Belmore said he recently began a Youtube channel, as well, to showcase interviews, and Belmore is looking to expand on Google Plus.

What’s Up Newp could have a page on every platform, he said, “but as a one man company, I can’t possibly update and keep them all running. What I do, I want to do well.” He said as the company grows and he continues to learn about new platforms, the company’s sites will grow as well.

What would a company like What’s Up Newp look for in potential employees?

Belmore said it’s important for recent graduates and potential employees to really study the social media world that they want to work in. If they want to be in a hyper-local company like What’s Up Newp, then they should understand the community and what companies right now are doing well and could be doing better.

He recommended looking at sites like Street Fight or getting daily emails from places like Fanpage Karma to stay up-to-date with what’s happening in the business. “You have to be open to always learning what’s going to be new,” he said.

Finally, while Belmore warned students to be careful what they post on social media while in college, he added that there’s great opportunity to use social media to their advantage before they graduate. “Start to connect with people in your area who are movers and shakers and tweet them,” he said. “Let them know you’re out there, and once you graduate, once you’re looking for a job, hopefully you have a little bit of a relationship started with them.”

Independence and ability to effectively research market changes are among the most valuable skills students can have now and throughout their careers, according to the Captain of Big Fish Results Tony Guarnaccia, when he spoke with Suzanne McDonald during her “pro-sourcing,” (rather than crowd-sourcing) campaign on what students need to know to land New Media jobs. The interview is split into 2 video clips, above and below.

Big Fish Results and its Captain

Big Fish Results works with companies of any size to help them become the market leader online, making them the “big fish” online. Big Fish uses a universal methodology – attract customers, lure prospects, and haul in the catch – that focuses on goals rather than on specific platforms, so that their techniques will not go out of style when the platforms do.

Guarnaccia, who founded Big Fish Results, has worked in the digital marketing industry for 15 years, previously working for thousands of small businesses and a dozen Fortune 500 companies. He double majored in fine arts and entrepreneurship. He played violin for years, ran digital advertising for ADP payroll services, and then founded Big Fish Results.

“I’m blessed because I’m one of the few people that actually has used both of their degrees.”

Guarnaccia’s advice for new New Media practitioners

Some of the core classes Guarnaccia recommends: general marketing, public relations, and public speaking.

“It’d be preferred if they’re learning things that are more up-to-date … it could be a blog post, even. Personally, that’s what I do. I always try to read, and I always try to stay somewhat up-to-date with what’s going on as much as I can,” he said.

The “main drivers” students should know, according to Guarnaccia, are Facebook, LinkedIn, Hootsuite, and Google. He said it’s important for students to understand their business models and “how they fit into the ecosystem,” rather than just understanding the details of each platform.

What Big Fish Results looks for in applicants

Guarnaccia said that he often looks for people who have a fine arts or sports background, because it shows that the person can be creative, analytical, and wants to win. He said it’s important to be passionate about whatever you’ve done in the past.

Other traits he looks for includes:

Adaptable

Professional

Real-world experience

Passionate

Problem-solver

Guarnaccia advises students to figure out what they want to do as early as possible and try to think about why you want to invest your time in that.

“I think if you’re passionate about something, you’re going to be special. And that’s a big theme of ours, being passionate about it,” he said.

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KoMarketing Managing Partner and Director of SEO & Social Media Strategies, Derek Edmond, spoke with Suzanne McDonald about developing a new media certificate program at URI. Edmond discussed KoMarketing, what they look for when hiring employees, and what the certificate should include.

KoMarketing as of now has 14 full-time professionals and about half a dozen part-time or contracted positions, according to Edmond, who said as the company’s client base grows, so will its need for new employees.

According to Edmond, it could be arguably called “content marketing because we create content that is designed to either get our clients visibility in search engines, or allow us to engage in social media, one or the other. Or drive leads through both of those channels.”

Edmond has been working in social media marketing for 12 years, and has his MBA from Suffolk University, and a B.S. in Financial Economics from Buffalo State College in New York.

Suggestions for students seeking communications or marketing jobs

Edmond had some suggestions for learning strategies that might help engage students and help make the lessons last beyond learning platforms that will die out long before these students’ careers are over. He recommended using case studies, so students learn the techniques of how to deal with a problem more generally rather than only the tools on a specific platform.

He also recommended consulting experts in particular fields, such as one for SEO and one for third-party publishing, to help the students learn from professionals in the field, make networking connections, and learn a broad scope of techniques.

Edmond suggested students should also focuses on:

Branding

Reputation management

Broad communication strategies

Crisis management

Measurement

What does KoMarketing look for in potential employees?

“We bring in a lot of people who are going to be both creative and analytical, which sometimes is difficult to combine,” said Edmond. He said the company also looks for creativity, examples of work that they’ve done successfully, and applicants who are able to distinguish themselves from the hundreds of other applications they receive.

Additionally, creativity, hard work, and attention-to-detail are traits that the company looks for in its employees. “You really have to enjoy what you’re doing,” he added, because the job is more demanding on time than other jobs may be, since it requires you to keep up with the constantly changing social media platforms. “So another obvious thing is the desire to always want to learn,” he said.

Edmond added that it might be a good idea to do some pro-bono work for local organizations or friends to build an impressive resume and portfolio and stand out.